Minister welcomes POPCRU anti-crime campaign

21 December 2001

Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Leonard Ramatlakane has welcomed the anti-crime campaign of the Police and Civil Rights Union POPCRU, launched today.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Ramatlakane said: "The trade union movement played a central role in achieving the national democratic breakthrough of 1994. But the legacy of apartheid remains in many areas of our lives, especially in high crime rates.

"We need real partnerships involving all role-players. Workers feel the effects of crime like all of us. I salute POPCRU and their members for this initiative to defeat crime. In this partnership with government in community safety we must also integrate crime-causing factors such as poverty, unemployment and the dehumanisation of apartheid.

"POPCRU will help mobilise and inform their workers against crime, but I call on all parts of society to join POPCRU’s example and become part of anti-crime initiatives. Two central messages of anti-crime awareness this festive season must be ‘Hands off our children!’ and ‘Raping a child is a crime, not a cure’. We must all work together to support especially working parents to make sure that their children are safe at this time."